Putin confirms death of Russian pilots during aborted Wagner uprising

Zelensky: Army making progress on frontline, arms deliveries central to allies talks

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian army is making progress in all areas of the frontline. That’s what the Ukrainian president said his nightly video speech on the night from Monday to Tuesday. “Today our soldiers have made progress in all areas (…) I wish them more days like this,” said Zelensky. The extent to which these claims are correct cannot be verified.

Earlier on Monday, Zelensky visited the Donetsk region near the eastern front in Ukraine, where his forces are leading a counter-offensive. The visit comes in the wake of last weekend’s aborted Wagner uprising, which Kyiv hopes to capitalize on in its advance.

Among others, the units of the Armed Forces of the Operational and Strategic Group of Chortytsya, who, according to Zelensky, “distinguished themselves in a heroic manner” at Bachmut, were praised. According to the Ukrainian president, he was in contact with his allies, including US President Joe Biden, on Monday. Arms deliveries would have been the central topic of conversation in the conversations.

Putin confirms death of Russian pilots during aborted Wagner uprising

In his televised speech on Monday, Vladimir Putin announced that Russian fighter pilots were killed during last weekend’s aborted uprising. In doing so, the Russian president confirmed previous reports from military bloggers that several planes had been shot down by the mutinous Wagner militia.

“The valor and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes saved Russia from tragically devastating consequences,” Putin said in his first speech after the uprising, according to international news agencies. He made no statements about the number of pilots who died. It is also unknown how many aircraft were shot down. The Russian blog Rybar previously reported thirteen killed pilots on Telegram.